The present invention relates in general to load transport vehicles and methods for loading same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an enclosed semi trailer which can be loaded from the front end, and method of loading an enclosed semi trailer.
Currently land transportation of automobiles takes two forms. Most commonly rail cars designed to haul automobiles pick up automobiles at the automobile manufacturer's dock. Since automobile dealerships don't have rail service, the automobiles are delivered to a hub. At the hub they are unloaded from the rail cars and loaded onto specialized automobile hauling truck and trailers. Trucks then make the final delivery. Hauling automobiles on specialized automobile hauling trucks and trailers from the manufacturer directly to the dealer is the other common way of hauling automobiles.
The freight rate for the rail car to distribution yard to truck method of delivering automobiles is dependent on the carrier's costs. Rail carriers must haul automobiles on rail cars designed especially for that purpose. These specially designed rail cars are either open or shielded from vandalism, but are almost never totally enclosed. Since most freight needs to be kept dry and isolated from the elements, the railroad cars used to haul automobiles on the front haul cannot be used on the return or backhaul trip to haul other freight, and thus, are rather unproductive. Moreover, even if automobile hauling railroad cars were made waterproof, they would be difficult to utilize because the space provided is typically not a standardized size, and thus presents problems when loading and unloading.
The cost of maintaining hub yards and the equipment to operate hem is significant. Vandalism and theft regularly occur at hub yards. Automobiles must be unloaded from the rail cars onto the hub yards then reloaded into the specialized auto hauling tractors and trailers. This process is slow, labor intensive, leads to handling damage, and therefore, costly.
Other problems with railroad cars are related to their fixed route and longer travel time. While it is cost effective for the railroads to be positioned at the automobile manufacturer, it is not practical, or many times not possible to have service to the dealers. Railroads are therefore dependent on slow, inefficient hub yards. Since the number of vehicles in transit or the value of the inventory in transit is tremendous, this time delay results in a substantial loss of operating profits for the automobile manufacturer. The overall value of automobiles in transit could be significantly reduced if the automobiles were only handled once.
Specialized auto hauling trucking companies in some cases successfully compete against rail carriers because of their shorter delivery time and single source accountability. Their direct cost per mile is higher than rail, but their faster service can offset the rate difference.
Auto hauling trucking companies have high costs because of their high deadhead and low equipment utilization. Their trailers cannot be used for other types of freight. They incur a high percentage of empty to loaded miles because of their limited shipper base. Their freight rate must reflect those extra empty miles. Auto hauling trucking companies experience a high deadhead ratio compared to other truckload carriers.
The specialized expensive equipment required by auto hauling trucking companies also increases their costs and ultimately their freight rate. The tractors are specially designed with ramps overhead to haul one car. The tractors also use special fuel tanks, special towing hooks, hydraulic pumps, and other non-standard equipment. The auto hauling trailer's initial purchase price is 4 to 6 times higher than conventional vans. Automobile hauling trailers are complex and expensive to maintain.
Another problem with automobile hauling tractors and trailers is their lack of protection from the elements. Due to the open design of automobile hauling semi tractors and trailer, the automobiles they haul are not protected from vandalism, theft or accidental rock chips.
Generally, automobile manufactureres have several concerns with the current distributed rail or direct truck service. Rail service is slow. The length of time in transit is related to customer and dealer satisfaction for ordered cars and cost of inventory in transit. Another concern with both rail and trucking carriers is the final delivery of a clean undamaged product. Finally, the freight rate combined with the indirect costs is the automobile manfacturer's total distribution cost.